The Rice Prius Build Thread

I'm thinking the Cusco center and rear brace will be the end for me, but for the time being I'm very happy with how it is. It's very tight around corners with VERY little body roll.

And the reason I went for another Ebay lip is the AWFUL roads here in Mississippi. It's going to get torn up like the old one, it's just a matter of when. At least this way I'm only out 100 dollars!

I also got to try the new ExtremeContact Sport tires in pouring rain today and I can confirm the reviews...it sticks to the road exactly like it's dry. I hit a few puddles of standing water at high speed on purpose to see if they felt any different than the old DWS I had and they sailed through the water without hydroplaning it all. I'm insanely impressed with these tires, I think I made a really good choice. The only downside I'm seeing is they seem to be kicking a lot of pebbles into the wheel arches because of how sticky they are, something I haven't seen on anything but R compound tires before. We'll see if they still do that after a few hundred miles of driving. I have a two day autocross event on the 6th and 7th so I'll post back with some results and tire wear after that.

And since it got bumped to the last page, here's that hilarious Corvette video again

 

One of the rarely talked about benefits of having a wing on your car! You never have to put up a cloths line to dry your microfibers!

 

I believe this was my fastest run of the day, putting my at 14th overall out of 27 drivers. Not too bad considering my last three laps were rained on, meaning my particular group only got three real chances to make a decent time! I gave the gopro to my wife since I figured my dash cam would take decent enough video, and it did! I also added a few decent shots of of the car doing it's thing and a score sheet for over all time. Take a look at what's right above my time, and below

 

Hey guys, I mentioned earlier I'd give a quick review of the Continental ExtremeContact Sport tires I put on after the last autocross session.

I have them on the car in 225/40/18 size, so just a bit larger than the stock tires that came with the car. I'm coming from Continental ExtremeContact DWS, Continentals all season tire and was pretty happy with them so I figured I'd go for a summer tire that is less aggressive than something like the Federal RSRR's I was planning on. The main reason being we use the Prius very often from long road trips and I wanted something that had great wet weather performance as well as good grip for autocross.

As of right now I couldn't be happier with them. They were very inexpensive as purchased from TireRack.com and were delivered in 3 business days.

First off, the wet weather performance is miles above the older DWS. We've had several severe thunderstorms with localized flooding since I got the tires on and I can tell you these seem to power through water like it wasn't even there. Absolutely no hydroplaning even at highway speeds hitting standing water, something that would have caused at the very least some minor traction loss on the DWS, and likely fully hydroplaning on Federal RSR's.

The dry performance is amazing is well, as you can see from the autocross score sheet above these tires stuck to the pavement incredibly well. I did notice the sidewall is a little soft for what I would like for autocross, but these tires offer great road comfort as well so there is a trade off to be had.

Tire wear after one autocross event is minimal as to be expected. I'll have a few more events this summer and give a better long term review but for the time being I'm super impressed with these tires and very happy I made the purchase. Having this much confidence in wet weather and knowing I have an amazing amount of grip if I need it really helps with the driving experience.

 

Update to the review! Got a flat tire in the back left. Only noticed it because the TPMS was displaying on the dash. Good call Toyota! Slowly rolled 300 meters to the gas station...wouldn't even take air.


Well...there's your problem right there



So, no fault of the tires on this one, and Tirerack is refunding me the full price of the tire thanks to their road hazard warranty. Now I'm sitting at the local tire shop waiting for the new tire to be mounted and balanced!

 

You can say that again. I honestly had no idea it was a thing until I called up on the off chance they would something in place for a discount. I certainly wasn't expecting a full refund of the purchase price. Essentially, I ran over a nail through normal use of the tire and TireRack is eating the cost of sending me a new tire...that's outstanding.

 

Intake manifold cleaning, removed hot water heating if the throttle body, added an oil catch can and cleaned the EGR pipe. EGR cooler tomorrow if the weather is nice.

The intake manifold was filthy and full of oil. The EGR pipe was terrible as well, both took multiple oxyclean baths and a ton of break cleaner to get looking acceptable.

 

Can you fit a motorcycle in a Prius?

Why yes, you can! As long as it's a Honda Grom.

 

I've been slacking on the updates! Front lip fell off in a rainstorm, heard a pop and never saw it again, even after I went back to look.

I also took the car out to Talladega GP and did a track day. It was a ton of fun, but discovered the Continentals were not up to the task on the track and chunked a good portion of them off. So I got myself some nice Federal RSR's. Took a small MPG hit but LOVE the amount of grip I have. Here's a video and some pictures of the track day.

 

It's been a LONG time since I've updated this! The biggest thing I've done recently is the 13 inch android head unit and G's bumper! The head unit is connected to a 360 camera kit giving me a birds eye view of the car when driving or backing up. Pretty nifty!

 

The head unit is a Belsee 12.8 inch model. It fits in the Prius but covers the HVAC LCD, which can be inconvenient until you learn to leave it on auto and adjust the temperature with the steering wheel controls.

Today's modification thanks to Hybrid Pit Stop is the Cusco front and mid power braces! After a short drive I can say with complete confidence these have significantly reduced body roll in hard cornering and tightened up the steering response. I can definitely recommend these to anyone who wants a less floaty driving experience.

 

Took it for a 3 hour drive and I can say with confidence this was a huge upgrade in cornering performance. The nose now confidently tucks in to corners without the roll I was experiencing before. Steering response was also improved. Installation was easy, and the Cusco bars are significantly sturdier than the flimsy and thin pieces they replaced.

I'd say these pieces are tied with the TRD rear sway bar for improvement in cornering.